HHLA entry completed
Hamburg and shipping company MSC complete HHLA deal
The shipping company MSC’s entry into HHLA was highly controversial, but has now been completed. The city of Hamburg has transferred its shares in the port logistics company to a joint operating company.
The controversial entry of the major Swiss shipping company MSC into the municipal Hamburg port logistics company HHLA has been completed. As the company announced, on Thursday the city of Hamburg contributed all of its A shares in HHLA to the joint venture Port of Hamburg Operator Company SE as part of a capital increase in kind. The city and MSC want to run HHLA together, with the city holding a 50.1 percent stake in the operating company and MSC holding a 49.9 percent stake.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company announced that the voluntary takeover offer was successfully completed with the transfer of the shares. “All offer conditions, including the approval of the Hamburg citizenship and merger control approvals from the responsible authorities, have been met,” it said.
MSC will pay the city 232 million euros for HHLA
The city previously owned around 70 percent of HHLA, the rest of the shares were in free float. Like the other shareholders, the city receives 16.75 euros per MSC A share – that is around 232.6 million euros.
MSC is proud of its participation in HHLA, said MSC CEO Søren Toft. The port has a centuries-long tradition and is not only called the gateway to the world in Hamburg. “We want to do our part to open the gate to the world again – for the benefit of HHLA, the workforce, the citizens of Hamburg and everyone who is connected to this historic port.”
Germany’s largest seaport will benefit significantly from investments in infrastructure and improvements in automation and digitalization at the HHLA terminals, said Economics Senator Melanie Leonhard (SPD). “This means that all HHLA customers will be able to benefit from this partnership.”
MSC wants to invest in Hamburg and almost double its cargo volume
MSC wants to increase its cargo volume at the HHLA terminals from next year and almost double it to one million standard containers (TEU) per year by 2031. In addition, the company owned by the Italian shipping family Aponte wants to build a new German headquarters in Hamburg and, together with the city, increase HHLA’s equity by 450 million euros.
HHLA is considered the heart of the Port of Hamburg. Last year, around 5.9 million standard containers (TEU) were handled at its three container terminals – Tollerort, Altenwerder and Burchardkai. This corresponds to around 77 percent of Hamburg’s total throughput of around 7.7 million TEU. In addition, HHLA, with its almost 6,800 employees, is involved in terminals in Odessa, in Trieste, Italy, and in the Estonian port of Muuga, among others.
Unions see jobs at risk
The deal is still highly controversial. For example, the Verdi union and dock workers are strictly against the deal. From Verdi’s point of view, jobs are not only at risk at HHLA, but also at other port companies such as the entire port operation and the Lasch operations. In addition, MSC actually receives extensive veto rights through the deal. Experts had also warned against the deal in expert hearings and spoke, among other things, of a “historical mistake”.
dpa
Source: Stern
